Bethesda Not Yet Convinced by Wii U

Bethesda Softworks' VP of PR and marketing has revealed the company is unsure whether it will support Nintendo's Wii U.

In the latest issue of MCV, Pete Hines explained that Bethesda has traditionally "put our games out on all of the platforms that will support them.

"So far the Wii hasn't fitted into that. Whether Wii U does down the road is TBD."

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I don’t think the current generation of consoles are holding us back. There is still plenty that we are able to do visually, technically and from a story-telling standpoint.

Despite admitting that Bethesda is clearly looking to the future in terms of consoles, Hines did reveal that he disagrees with the likes of Ubisoft's Yves Guillemot, Square Enix's Julien Merceron and EA's Frank Gibeau who have claimed that the current console generation has lasted too long. In fact, he thinks the transition to the next wave of consoles could cause a whole new set of problems.

"I don’t think the current generation of consoles are holding us back," he said. "There is still plenty that we are able to do visually, technically and from a story-telling standpoint. And there’s this huge built-in audience now.

"For me the problems with new consoles are two-fold. The developers are trying to hit a moving technical target, because the platforms are being built. A new console doesn't just show up a year before launch and is exactly what it will be when it comes out.

"It moves and iterates along the way. And introducing something like that to games that are in development is always a bit tricky. And that is obviously an element of risk.

"The second point is that your install base always starts at zero," he continued. "Then it comes out and suddenly a certain number of people buy it but it won't be the same number as the current gen. So you have divided your audience.

"It's then a case of: Are we just making it for the next gen? Or next gen and current gen? And how many people from the current gen that I'm targeting have moved over to the next gen? It does complicate things a little bit."

"Obviously the changes they are going to make technologically, in terms of the things we will be able to do, are exciting. But it comes at a price."